Both bills are now waiting for a vote on the House floor
A bill from Rep. Kevin Waters that would change the definitions under the alcohol server permit statutes is one step closer to becoming law.
On Tuesday, the House Consumer Protection and Business Committee unanimously passed House Bill 1698, which would clarify that all persons selling and serving alcohol for on-premises consumption at a licensed facility need to obtain an alcohol server permit. It would also eliminate special liquor permits and public house liquor licenses.
“This legislation would ensure that if you pour alcoholic beverages at a site that serves alcohol, you will need a permit. It would provide clarity and a uniform standard for everyone,” said Waters, R-Vancouver. “For years, it’s been unclear whether you have to get a mandatory alcohol server training permit. This bill says if you are selling alcohol and serving it on-site, you must have a permit to do that, plain and simple.”
Under HB 1698, the term “retail-licensed premises” would change to “on-premises licensed facility” for statutes regulating alcohol servers. References to specific licenses would be removed from the definition. Instead, the new definition would reference all licensed facilities that sell or serve alcohol by the glass, drink, or in original containers primarily for on-premises consumption, including on-premises tasting activities regulated under the state’s alcohol laws.
Breweries, microbreweries, beer and wine specialty shops, and spirit retailers who have tasting activities would also be included in the definition of an on-premises licensed facility.
Also on Tuesday, the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee passed House Bill 1609. The bipartisan bill would promote the efficient administration of state education agencies, by allowing the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to use a designee on the Board of Natural Resources.
The BNR sets policies to guide how the Washington State Department of Natural Resources manages the state’s lands and resources.
The Board’s responsibilities are to approve trust land timber sales, sales and purchases of trust lands, and setting the sustainable harvest level for forested trust lands. The OSPI is on the BNR because public schools receive money from timber sales off DNR trust lands.
Current law specifies that the superintendent is a board member and does not authorize using a designee. HB 1609 would change that and allow the superintendent more time to supervise the administration of school policies and procedures by sending a designee in his or her place to meetings about timber sales that fund schools.
“Washington is experiencing an education crisis, and the superintendent has a lot on his plate,” said Waters. “This bill would simply allow him to focus his attention on more pressing education issues. All opinions and votes would still come from the superintendent, but attending every one of these meetings is not the best use of the superintendent’s time. The bottom line is this would give the OSPI a little flexibility.”
The BNR met 11 times in 2024, and meetings often run for three hours each. Having a designee to attend the BNR meetings would free up significant time for the superintendent. Both bills are now waiting for a vote on the House floor.
Information provided by Washington State House Republicans, houserepublicans.wa.gov
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